Cole and Pirates agree at $8 million

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NEW YORK
— UCLA pitcher Gerrit Cole and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the deadline to sign when the top selection in the June amateur draft agreed late Monday night to a minor league contract with an $8 million signing bonus.

Cole had been among 23 first-round picks facing a midnight deadline to reach agreements with major league teams.

“It’s essentially the largest signing bonus ever given an amateur player,” Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said. “Sometimes, it’s more advantageous for a player to take a minor league contract with a bonus that can be spread over nine months than a major league contract that would be spread out over four years.”

Cole was represented by agent Scott Boras, who was negotiating for the top pick for the third straight year after reaching agreements with Washington for pitcher Stephen Strasburg ($15.1 million over four years) and outfielder Bryce Harper ($9.9 million over five years).

Three years ago, Cole decided not to sign after the Yankees selected him on the first round with the 28th overall pick. He was 6-8 with a 3.31 ERA for the Bruins as a junior, but the Pirates decided his potential outweighed his latest statistics.

The deal was reached about 15 minutes before the deadline.

“There was an ebb and flow to them all night,” Huntington said. “At times, everything seemed to going really well and then there would be times where we seemed to be moving apart.”

Pittsburgh also gave a $5 million deal to second-round pick Josh Bell, a high school outfielder from Dallas who had said he was committed to attending the University of Texas.

“After the draft, we had the opportunity to sit down with Josh and his family and let him know what our organization is about and how we operate,” Huntington said. “We made it clear that we would really like him to be part of our organization. We left with the idea that they were open-minded and that if we were able to reach a financial agreement that both sides were comfortable with that he would be willing to begin his professional career with us.”

In addition, Boras negotiated a $7.5 million signing bonus for high school outfielder Bubba Starling with the Kansas City Royals, and a $7.2 million, four-year major league contract for Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon with the Washington Nationals. Starling was the fifth overall pick and Rendon sixth.

Most top picks agreed to deals. Virginia left-hander Danny Hultzen agreed to an $8.5 million, five-year contract with Seattle that included a $6.35 million signing bonus. Dylan Bundy, a high school right-hander selected fourth by Baltimore, got a $6.25 million, five-year contract.

Boras’ son, California high school third baseman Trent Boras, failed to reach an agreement with the Milwaukee Brewers. Trent Boras was a 30th-round pick.

Just 10 of the 33 players taken on the first round June 6 had announced agreements with one hour remaining before the deadline, including just one of the first nine picks: No. 3 Trevor Bauer, a teammate of Cole’s on the UCLA pitching staff, agreed July 25 to a $4.45 million, four-year contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Aug. 15 deadline, in its fifth year, applies to players taken in the draft who have remaining college eligibility. Agents have said that in many cases teams won’t start negotiations until shortly before the deadline.

If a team fails to sign a first-round pick, it gets an extra selection after the same slot in next year’s draft.

Only one first-round pick reached an agreement last weekend: The Los Angeles Dodgers and Stanford left-hander Chris Reed agreed at $1,589,000. Reed, the 16th pick, also is represented by Boras.